Dennis Brown and Paul Friswold suss out the local theater scene

OngoingGod of Carnage Two wealthy couples, ostensibly people of goodwill, meet after their children have duked it out in a schoolyard brawl. Relations between the two couples proceed to deteriorate, to the point where they're misbehaving worse than their miscreant kids. Over the course of 90 intermissionless minutes, a comedy of manners reveals some very ill-mannered adults. This farce by French playwright Yasmina Reza (in a translation by Christopher Hampton) is definitely a crowd pleaser. It's also predictable and one-note, condescending and elitist. Reza knows her audience is upscale, and she plays them like a fiddle. If you're looking to feel smugly superior to the characters onstage, then Carnage is the show for you. Performed by the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis through November 6 at the Loretto-Hilton Center, 130 Edgar Road, Webster Groves. Tickets are $19 to $72. Call 314-968-4925 or visit www.repstl.org. — Dennis Brown